Ball and flare joints are commonly used to connect vehicle exhaust system components together in sealing engagement. In forming such joint it has been common practice to have a flared annular portion on one mating member and a mating spherical ball portion formed integral with a tube to be connected to the other member. The sperical ball portion is formed on the tube wall by conventional forming methods such as spinning or swaging the metal adjacent the end of the tube. Normally, a flange is then affixed to the tube a selected distance back from the formed end and threaded fasteners are used to force the formed end into sealing engagement with the mating member. In some applications a composition or sintered gasket member, which may be formed as a ball receiving annulus or as an annular portion of a sphere is interposed between the sealing surface of the flange and the mating component to aid in effecting sealing.
Due to the force required to be imposed on the mating surface to achieve a gas tight seal it has often been necessary to form the tube on which the mating portion is formed or on which the gasket is mounted of a thicker gauge of metal solely to prevent collapse of the mating or gasket supporting portion. Forming the tube of a thicker metal increases the material cost of the tube and increases its weight. These factors detract from the economic efficiency of the component and the energy efficiency of the vehicle on which the component is mounted.